Power-transmission mechanism.



P. B. SEDDON & W. H. DOUGLAS.

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1907. RENEWEDSEPT. 2, 190a.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

6 SHEETSSHEET 1 /NVEN7'0/?6 Ewaerzbkfidddwz il zziz'aizaiifloayias 74MATTORNEYS F. E. SEDDON & W. H. DOUGLAS. POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1907. RENEWED SEPT. 2, 1908. 917,968,'Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a N a D1 i E 5 I: a l E Fq 2 I 3 WITNESSES INVENTOHS E fiederz'c/z'Zf/YeddOTb 7ZZiamJZfiaayZw A TTOHNEYS F. E. SEDDON & W. H. DOUGLAS.

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1907. RENEWEDSEPT. 2, 190a.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

6 SHEETSSHBET 3.

ASYZ

WITNESSES P. E. SEDDON & W. H. DOUGLAS.

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1907. RENEWEDSEPT. 2, 1908.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

P. E. SEDDON & W. H. DOUGLAS.

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1907. RENEWEDSEPT. 2, 190a.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

[Zia/7 B Y A TTOHNE YS WITNESSES F. E. SEDDON & W. H. DOUGLAS;

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1907. RENEWED SEPT. 2, 190a.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

6 SHEETSSHEET 8.

/hmwr WITNESSES A TTORNE Y S UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK E. SEDDON, OF HOBOKEN, AND WILIiIAM H. DOUGLAS, OF BELLEVILLE,NEW

' JERSEY POWER-TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 19, 1907, Serial No. 393,648. RenewedSeptember 2, 1908. Serial No. 451,354.

To all whom it may concern:

Beitknown that we, FREDERICK E. SE1)- DON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State ofN ew- Jersey, and WILLIAM H. DOUGLAS, a citizen of. the United States,and a resident of Belleville, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and Improved Power-Transmission Mechanism,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved powertransmission mechanism for use on automobiles and other vehicles andmechanisms requiring a varying and differential action in eitherdirection, and arranged to allow forward or backward driving at anydesired speed without reversing or changing the speed of the motor, andto permit the driven wheels to run at a. differential speed when thevehicle turns around a corner or in a sinuous track.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations ofthe same, which will be more fully described hereinafter and thenpointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the improvement as applied toa motor vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same, parts being shown inelevation; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section 'of the gearing; Fig. 4is'a sectional side elevation of the same on the line 44 of Fig. 3; Fig.5 is a like view of the same on the line 5-5 of Fig 3; Fig. 6 is asimilar .view of the same on the line of Fig. 3, and showing moreparticularly the differential gearing, and Fi 7 is an enlarged crosssection of the contro ling mechanism.

trated in the drawings is shown applied to the front end of the motorVehicle, and is provided with the alined driven shafts A and A, eachconnected at its outer end by a universal joint B with the wheel shaft Ccarrying a front wheel. Each wheel shaft C is journaled in a stub axle Dfulcrumed on the main axle or supporting bar E attached. to the springsE of the main frame E of the vehicle, and the said stub axles D are con-The power transmission mechanism illusnected With the steering gear forsteering the vehicle in the usual manner. The driven shaft A extendsthrough a hollow driving shaft F provided with a sprocket wheel F,connected by a sprocket chain F with a sprocket wheel F secured on theshaft F* of a motor F mounted on the main frame E of the vehicle, andserving to rotate-the shaft F continually in one direction andpractically at the same rate of speed. Other means for driving the shaftF from the motor may be employed.

. On the inner end of the driving shaft F is secured'or formed a pinionF in mesh with one or more gear wheels G loosely journaled on hollowbearings H projecting from the face of a power transmission member H. inthe form of a disk or a spider, and

having the hub 'H mounted to rotate loosely on the. driven shaft A. Intothe hollow bearings H of the transmission member H extend lugs I formedon a spider'I having its hub I mounted to rotate loosely on the drivenshaft A, as plainly indicated in Fig. 3. The spider I is provided withone or more sets of studs I I (see Fig. 6), on which are mounted .torotate loosely pinions I 1, respectively,

in" mesh with gear wheels J and J, of which the gear wheel J is rigidlyattached to the polygonal portion A of the driven shaft A, while thegear wheel J C is rigidly secured to the inner end of the driven shaftA. The spider I together with the pinions I, F and the gear wheels J, Jconstitute a differential gearing for driving the shafts A and Awhenever the spider I is rotated, the gearing permitting, however, oneof the shafts A or A to rotate faster than the other when the vehicleturns around a corner or follows a sinuous track.

Between each gear wheel G- and the power transmission member H isarranged a friction clutch K, preferably in the form of alternatingrings K and K made of steel or other hard metal, and of which the ringsK are held on keys K sec'ured'to or forming part of the gear wheel G,while the rings K are engaged by'keys K bolted or otherwise fastened onthe transmission member H. Normally the friction clutch rings K and K ofeach friction clutch K are pressed in firm contact with each other bythe action of a spring L extending within the hollowbearing H of thetransmission Patented April 13, 1909.

L toward the gear wheels Gr to hold the friction clutch rings K and K infirm contact with each other, so that the gear wheels G are normallyconnected with the trans,- mission member H in such a manner that thelatter is carried around by the gear Wheels G, as hereinafter more fullydescribed. The inner terminal A of the shaft A has a bearing in theinner end of the shaft A, plainly shown in Fig. 3, and the shaft Abesides having a rotary motion is mounted to slide in the direction ofits axis, to shift the transmission member H from the right to the leftwith a view to gradually release the friction clutches K whenever it isdesired to decrease the speed of the shafts A and A. For the purposementioned the shaft A is provided with a 0011511 A engaging the hub H ofthe transmission member H (see Fig. 3), and on the said shaft A issecured a cam disk N (see Figs. 2 and 7) in frictional contact with acam collar N attached to the bar E, and through which passes loosely theshaft A.

The cam disk N is provided with an arm N pivotally connected by a link N(see Fig. 1) with a lever N fulcrumed at N on the main frame E The leverN is pivotally connected by a link N with the operatinglever O fulcrumedon the main frame E and having a latch 0 adapted to enga e one of aseries of notches on a segment 6 secured to the main frame E The latch Ois provided with a stem 0 adapted to be engaged by a lug 0 held on afoot lever O fulcrumed on the lever O and under the control of theoperator. A spring 0 pressing the stem 0 normally holds the latch O inengagement with the corresponding notch in the segment 0 Now when theoperator imparts a swinging motion to the foot lever 0 then the lugUacts on the stem 0 to swing the latch 0 out of engagement with thesegment 0 thus unlocking the lever 0. When the operator now presses thefoot lever O in'the direction of the arrow a, a swinging motion is givento the'lever O in the same direction to cause the link N the lever N andlink N to impart a swinging motion to the arm N in the direction of thearrow 5, whereby the cam disk N is turned, and in doing so it is shiftedby the fixed cam N in the direction of the arrow a, to move the shaft Ain the same direction. When this takes place the collar A engages andshifts the hub H thus moving the transmission member H from the right tothe left away from the gear wheels G, so

that the frictionclutches K are more or less released according to theamount of movement given to the transmission member H. When thetransmission member H is moved from the right to the left'then theseveral springs L'are compressed and when the operator releases thepressure on the foot lever 0 then the several parts are returned totheir normal position by the action of the springs L, that is, thetransmission member H is moved from the left to the right to firmlypress the friction rings K and'K in contact with each other, and at thesame time the shaft A is-returned from the left to the right by the hubH pressing the collair-A The return of the shaft A causes a returnmovement of the cam disk N, the arm N link N lever N link N and lever 0against movement in the direction of the arrow c,.on the shaft A, byabutting against a thrust bearing P interposed between the said cam diskN and the collar A attached to the shaft A, (see Fig. 7).

When the shaft F is driven from the motor F then the pinion F rotatesthe gear wheels G, and as the latter are practically locked to thetransmission member H it is evident that the gear wheels G andconsequently the transmission member H are carried around, whereby thespider I is carried around withjthe transmission member H, and thepinions I I rotate the gear wheels J, J, thus turning both shafts A, Ain the same direction and practically at the hi hes t speed, as themotor F 5 is run uniform y at the same rate of speed.

'When it is desired to reduce the speed of the shafts A and A andconsequently that of the vehicle, the operator swings the lever O in thedirection of the arrow a, as above described, so as to cause. a shiftingof the shaft A and the transmission member H from the right to the left,to partly release the friction clutches K, so that the. gear wheels Grrotate on their own axes besides ried around with less speed andconsequently the shafts Aand A are rotated at a lower rate of speed. I

; Whenever a hi her speed is desired, the

to normal position. The cam disk N is 'held' carrying the transmissionmember H around,

axes, and the transmissionmember H is caroperator releases'the pressureon the lever O correspondingly, so, that the springs i. return theseveralparts and increase the friction between the friction rings K, Kof l the several friction clutches K, to cause the rate of'speed. Therotary motion of the shafts A and A, is transmitted by the uni- Versaljoints B to the stub axle C and the wheels mounted thereon, to propelthe vehicle in a forward direction.

In order to run the vehicle backward without reversing the motor F", thefollowing arrangement is made: On each of the gear wheels G is securedor formed a pinion Q in mesh with a gear wheel R secured or formed on afriction drum S mounted to rotate loosely on the hollow shaft F, asplainly indicated in the drawings. The friction drum S is normallydriven loosely from the gear wheels G, Q and R, and the peripheralsurface of the said friction drum S is adapted to be engaged byafriction band S to retard the rotary motion of the drum S or to bringthe same to a complete standstill, if desired. Now when the drum S isretarded or brought to a. standstill, then the gear wheel R is heldagainst movement and consequently the pinion Q rolls off the gear wheelR, thus turning the wheel G in a reverse direction, whereby thetransmission member H is also rotated in a reverse direction and with itthe shafts A and A. When this takes place, the vehicle wheels arerotated in the reverse direction and consequently the vehicle runsbackward.

The friction band S is secured at one end on a stud S held in the casingE inclosing the transmission gearing and attached to the main frame E,as shown in Fig. 4. The other end of the friction band S is providedwith a gear segment S in mesh with apinion Sf secured on a shaft Sjournaled in the casing E. On the outer end of the shaft S is secured anarm T (see Fig. 1) connected by a link T with an arm T fulcrumed at T onthe main frame E and provided with a stud T* extending into theelongated slot U of a link U pivotally connected with the lever Npreviously mentioned. Now when it is desired to reverse, the operatorswings the lever 0 forward in the direction of the arrow a until thefriction clutches K are completely released and the shafts A and A cometo a standstill,

owing to the disconnection of the transmission member H from the gearwheels G by the friction clutches K. \Vhen this takes place the lever Nhas pulled the link U a distance such that the outer end engages thestud T and a further movement now given to the leverO. in the directionof the arrow 11. causes the link U to impart a swinging motion to thearm T so that the link T imparts a swinging motion to the arm T, torotate the shaft S and the pinion S. Now as the pinion S is in mesh withthe segmental gear wheel S on the friction band S, the latter is drawnin firm contact with the friction drum S to gradually retard the same,and to finally bring the said drum to a standstill. When this takesplace the pinions Q of the gear wheels G roll off the now practicallyfixed gear wheel B, so that the gear wheels G are rotated in a reversedirection and consequently the transmission member H is turned in areverse direction and with it the spider I, to reverse the differentialgearingto rotate the shafts A and A in a reverse or backward direction.When the operator releases the pressure on the foot lever 0 then theseveral partsreturn by the action of the compressed springs L, aspreviously explained and the friction band S opens up to release thefriction drum S.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the friction devices K arecompletely released previous to drawing the band S taut on the frictiondrum S, so that the vehicle first gradually comes to a standstill in aforward direction and. then backs up with the motor F, in either caserunningat the same uniform speed and in the same claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent:

1. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the said drivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the said drivenshaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion and mounted toturn loosely on the said transmission member, a friction clutchinterposed between the said gear wheel and the said transmission memberto rotate the latter, and a driving connection between the saidtransmission member and the driven shaft.

2. A power transmission mechanism, com prising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the said drivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the said drivenshaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion and mounted toturn loosely on the said transmission member, a friction clutchinterposed between the said gear wheel and the said transmission memberto rotate the latter, a driving connection between the said transmissionmember and the driven shaft, and a manually controlled shiftingmechanism for shifting the said driven shaft and the said transmissionmember thereon, to release the said friction clutch more or less.

3. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the said drivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the said drivenshaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion and mounted toturn loosely on the said transmission member, a friction clutchinterposed between the said gear wheel and the said transmission member,to rotate the latter, means for rotating the driven shaft from thetransmission member, a manually controlled shifting mechanism forshifting the said driven shaft and the said transmission member thereon.to release the said friction clutch more or less, and springs pressingthe said transmission member to return the latter and the driven shafton releasing the said shifting mechanism.

4. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the said drivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the said drivenshaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion and mounted toturn loosely on the said transmission .member, a friction clutchinterposed between the said gear wheel and the said transmission memberto rotate the latter, a second driven shaft, and difierential gearingdriven by the said transmission member and connected with both drivenshafts to rotate the same.

5. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the said drivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the said drivenshaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion and mounted-toturn loosely on the said transmission member, a friction clutchinterposed between the said gear wheel and the said transmission memberto rotate the latter, means for rotating the driven shaft from thetransmission memher and a manually controlled friction reversing devicegeared with the said gear wheel.

6. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the said drivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the said drivenshaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion and mounted toturn loosely on the said transmission member, a friction clutchinterposed between the said gear wheel and the said transmission memherto rotate the latter, means for rotating the driven shaft from thetransmission memher, a manually controlled shifting mechanism forshifting the said driven shaft and the said transmission member thereonto release the said friction clutch more or less, and a manuallycontrolled friction reversing device geared with the said gear wheel.

'7. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the said drivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the said drivenshaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion and mounted toturn loosely on the said transmission member, a friction clutchinterposedbetween the said gear wheel and the said transmission memberto rotate the latter, means for rotating the driven shaft from thetransmission member, a manually controlled shifting mechanism forshifting the said driven shaft and the said transmission member thereonto release the said friction clutch more or less, and a manuallycontrolled friction reversing device geared with the said gear-wheel,the said manually controlled shlfting mechanism and the said reversingdevice being actuated successively from a common lever.

,8. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the saiddrivingshaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the saiddriven shaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion andmounted to turn loosely on the said transmission member, a frictionclutch interposed between the said gear Wheel and the said transmissionmember to rotate the latter, means for rotating the driven shaft fromthe transmission member, a manually controlled shifting mechanism forshifting the said driven shaftand the said transmission member thereonto release the said friction clutch more or less, a manually controlledfriction reversing device geared with the said gear wheel, a lever, aconnection between the said lever and the said shifting mechanism, and aconnection between the said lever and the said reversing device toactuate the latter from the said lever after the friction clutch hasbeen completely released by the shifting mechanism.

9'. A power transmission mechanism, com-- prising a driving shaft, adriven shaft mounted to turn and to slide, a master pinion on the saiddriving shaft, a rotatable transmission member moving with the saiddriven shaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the said master pinion andmounted to turn loosely on the said transmission member, a frictionclutch interposed between the said gear wheel and the said transmissionmember to rotate the latter, means for rotating the driven shaft fromthe transmission member, a friction reversing device including a drum, apinion in mesh with the said gear wheel, a friction band for the saiddrum, and means for operating the said friction band to retard themotion of the said drum.

10. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving pinion, a gearwheel in mesh with the pinion, a rotatable power transmission member onwhich the said gear wheel is mounted to rotate, a friction clutch 1shifting to move and control the said transmission member, and means forshifting the said shaft the transmission member said friction clutch.

11. A power transmission mechanism, comprising a driving pinion, a gear"wheel in mesh with the pinion, a rotatable power, transmission memberon which the said gear wheel is mounted to rotate, a friction clutchinterposed between the gear wheel and the said member, a slidable shaftcarrying the said transmission member to shift the latter on shiftingthe said shaft, differential gearing connecting the said transmissionmember with the said shaft to drive the latter, and a second shaft alsodriven by the said differential gearing.

12. A power transmission mechanism,comprising a driving pinion, a gearwheel in mesh with the pinlon, arotatable power trans mission memberwheel is mounted to rotate, a friction clutch interposed between thegear wheel and the said member,- a pinion on the said gear wheel, amanually controlled friction drum, and a gear wheel on the said frictiondrum in mesh with the said pinion on the gear wheel and in axialalinement with the said drivin pinion.

13. i-' power transmission mechanism,comprising'a driving pinion, a gearwheel in mesh with the pinion, a rotatable power transmission member onwhich the said gear wheel is mounted to rotate, a friction clutch memberinterposed between the gear wheel and the said member, a pinion on thesaid gear wheel, a manually controlled friction drum, a gear wheel onthe said friction drum in meshwith the saidpinion on the gear wheel andin axial alinement with the said driven pinion, and a manuallycontrolled friction band for. the said friction drum.

14. A power transmission mechanism,com-

transmission member on which the sai on which the said gear' prising adriving pinion, a gear wheel in mesh with the. pinion, a rotatable owergear wheel is mounted to rotate, a friction-clutch interposed betweenthe gear wheel and the said member, a shifting means for shifting thesaid power transmission member .to control the said friction clutch, anda spring pressing the said power transmission member to return the sameon releasing the said shifting means.

15. Apower transmission mechanism,comprising a driving shaft, a pinionon said shaft, a gear wheel in mesh with the pinion, a rotatable powertransmission member on which the said gear wheel is mounted to rotate, afriction clutch interposed between the gear wheel and the saidtransmission member, a shifting mechanism for shifting the said powertransmission member to release the said friction clutch, a pinion on thesaid gear wheel, a friction drum mounted to rotate loosely on thedriving shaft, a friction band for en aging the pri heral surface of thesaid drum, the said and being secured at one end to a fixed support andhaving a gear segment at its other end, a shaft mounted to turn andhaving an arm, the said shaft being provided with a pinion in mesh withthe said gear segment and adapted when the shaft is turned to tightenthe band on said drum, a lever, a connection between the lever and theshifting mechanism, and a connection between the said lever and the armon the said last mentioned shaft to turn the latter.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK E. SEDDON. WILLIAM H. DOUGLAS. Witnesses:

THEO. G. HOSTER, EVERARD B. MARSHALL.

